With a month before opening day, law-enforcement officials still are working out how to handle
policing in and around the new Hollywood Casino.

Those close to the discussions say those details will be settled before the casino’s scheduled
opening on Oct. 8. But questions remain about shared responsibility for crimes that cross
jurisdictions and the use of off-duty officers in the casino.

Also undetermined is what will happen should the state’s new gaming-enforcement agents arrest
someone on casino grounds. There is no plan for who transports that person to jail or who pays
should that person need medical attention.

Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott said that concern was first raised during a meeting of
law-enforcement and Ohio Casino Control Commission officials in May, but no agreements have been
reached during subsequent meetings.

“It’s a big issue,” Scott said. “If the casino authority arrests someone, how do they get them
to my jail? The city is going to say, ‘You catch ’em, you clean ’em.’ ”

Columbus Deputy Chief Richard Bash said the city doesn’t transport prisoners for other
jurisdictions because of liability issues. He wants bad guys to know that they’ll figure it out,
though, if the need should arise.

“If someone is there and they have to go to jail, they’ll go to jail,” he said, adding, “even if
I have to put them on the back of my bike.”

Karen Huey, enforcement director for the control commission, said she understands that details
such as prisoner transportation still need to be worked out, but it’s not the commission’s first
priority because it hasn’t been a major issue in Cleveland and Toledo, the first two cities to open
casinos.

In those casinos, the state’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation polices
gambling for the commission. In Columbus, the commission will have its own officers; the first
class of the state’s gaming-enforcement agents was sworn in yesterday.

Because those officers will deal mostly with gambling-related crime such as cheating or
collusion, it’s unusual for the commission’s agents to have to make an immediate arrest, said Matt
Schuler, the commission’s executive director.

In most instances, the person will be served with a summons or a case will be built with more
investigation and the person later indicted, he said.

The situation in Columbus is unique because so many jurisdictions touch the casino property,
which was annexed into the city from Franklin Township. While Columbus police have jurisdiction
over anything that happens that’s not gambling-related on casino property, Franklin Township police
and the sheriff’s office share jurisdiction in most adjacent areas.

That’s why bringing everyone to the table is so important, Bash said. He said a meeting next
week among casino-commission employees, local law enforcement, casino representatives and city and
county government officials will attempt to hammer out some of the last-minute concerns.

Columbus police already have said they will not hire any more officers specifically for casino
enforcement. Scott’s office is preparing to ramp up patrols in the area soon after the casino
opens.

The sheriff got permission to start a new class of deputies this summer, and the Franklin County
commissioners on Tuesday are expected to approve buying 11 new patrol cars, mostly for casino-area
enforcement.

Casino representatives confirmed yesterday that they will be hiring off-duty law-enforcement
officers to work at the casino, at least initially. How many and where they will come from has not
yet been determined, said Bob Tenenbaum, a Penn National spokesman.

Before that announcement, Bash said having off-duty officers there to handle security helps
because it means an immediate response when there’s an assault or other nongambling crime.